Alexx Sanchez
asanch16@uwyo.edu
Wyoming’s Public Safety Communication Commission (PSCC) has lowered its funding request from the Wyoming state legislature.
PSCC Chairman, Mark Harshman, said PSCC did not ask for more money due to the budget shortfall.
“We decreased the amount we were asking for due to some local organizations who were able to buy equipment that we previously had budgeted for,” Harshman said.
Their funding request went from being about $18.8 million to $16 million. The Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC) is working to adjust the PSCC’s budget.
Senator John Hastert said the PSCC requested a budget adjustment because they typically do not ask for one-time funding requests.
“They have about a 4 million dollar standard budget request, and I think they have asked for one-time funding somewhere around 12 million. This will all be new this year. This isn’t something we have traditionally done,” Hastert said.
The JAC has not yet met to determine how to adjust the PSCC’s budget, Hastert said, adding that the committee would likely make a decision about the PSCC’s budget during the second week of January.
Hastert said he did support how the PSCC wanted to use their funds.
“I personally support it,” he said. “I would have to look at all of the details of their supplemental requests, but this largely goes to first responders and law enforcement.”
Hastert said law enforcement and first responders need the funding to improve their equipment once they get out of their vehicle. He said once they leave their vehicle, law enforcement and first responders’ equipment do not have the wattage to keep connected to the state’s communication system called WyoLink.
WyoLink is a communication system that connects all public safety agencies at all levels of government from a local to even a federal level.
Hastert said he thinks it would make more sense for enforcement and responders to be hooked into WyoLink for consistency and safety purposes.
Despite the support to improve the communications equipment, the PSCC’s funding request may face some issues due to Wyoming’s recent state budget shortfall, Hastert said.
“I think some of the services are redundant. It’s not going to be a slam dunk,” he said.
If the funding request did go through, it will not only be beneficial on a state level, but a local level as well.
“The request would increase two-way communication capabilities in many communities that do not have that coverage,” Harshman said. “What it’s doing is asking the legislature to fund, with one time funding, tower sites in various communities throughout the state.”
In regards to how this will affect Laramie and the university community, Harshman said there should not be any changes.
“The university police are on WyoLink,” Harshman said. “I believe that the coverage in Laramie is OK at this time. I wouldn’t expect any change around the university property.”
